Fallbrook Man Fined for Mountain Lion Death

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A Fallbrook man admitted to shooting and killing a mountain lion more than a year ago according to a published report.

Avocado ranch supervisor Mario Arteaga pleaded guilty on June 15 and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine in connection with the shooting of a mountain lion in late 2009 our media partners at the North County Times report.

Dangerous Creatures

Investigators with California Fish and Game stumbled on the skeleton of a mountain lion on ranch property while investigating the July 2010 shooting of a different female mountain lion.

The 2010 shooting involved a lion, shot in an avocado grove, that had been fitted with a radio collar as part of a regional study on mountain lions.

Weirdest Creatures of the World

Arteaga’s version of events is reportedly in question including how he shot the first mountain lion and if the lion was in fact, threatening his safety as well.

“It was in a tree and there were dogs” below, Arteaga told the North County Times in Spanish. “I read in the news in Orange County that a lion had killed a man. I didn’t want it to attack me.”

Investigators didn't buy Arteaga's story. As part of his plea, Arteaga agreed to destroy the weapon used in the 2009 shooting.